Along The Way

Chapter 4

Hey everyone! You've chosen option 1- The cake melted. You've been nice to Audrey this story, lol (or, at least as nice as the terrible options I've given you can get!). This is the last chapter of Along The Way, and I've had so much fun writing this, and I hope you've enjoyed it too! Enjoy!

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"You hate to say what, Owen?" I ask, closing the space between us. "Why did you run all the way back here?"

He hesitates. "Well, if I drove back, then you'd see it and immediately freak out, and I thought it would be best to prep you first so you had time to process."

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This isn't good. What else could possibly have gone wrong?

I strain to keep calm. "And why, Owen, would I freak out?"

He takes a breath, bites his lip, then after what feels like an eternity of him pondering how to break the news to me, he says, "The cake melted. All of it. It's just a pile of mush now..."

All I can do is blink at him. Sofia's beautiful three-tiered cake is ruined. The one she was so excited about. The one that went with her 'vibe'. The one she wanted from that specific bakery. The one that was 'perfect' for pictures. The one I was in charge of— and now it's a pile of mush in a box in the back of Owen's shitty convertible.

"Audrey?" Owen prompts. "Did you hear me? I said the cake was melt—"

I don't bother snapping at him that of course I heard him. How could I not? He's standing right in front of me and delivering terrible news. Instead, I ignore the scorching heat and the sweat already dripping down my back and sprint past him.

He has to be mistaken. The cake can't be melted. Even though it's like 35 degrees outside and was sitting in a hot car for two hours and is made of food that's capable of melting, it can't melt.

It's not melted it's not melted it's not melted—

It's melted.

I take the box out of the car and place it on the gravel ground. The icing is a lumpy puddle, and the beautiful white roses and green leaves are just clumps in various stages of melting. The top tiers slid off and are leaning against the sides of the box in all different directions, and the cake sponge is torn down the middle, probably pulled down by the heavy icing.

The cake isn't salvageable.

And Sofia's going to be so upset.

"Hey," Owen says, panting as he catches up to me. He points to the ruined cake. "See what I mean?"

I round on him. "Yes, Owen! I see the pile of mush that was supposed to be my sister's dream wedding cake! I see that we could've avoided everything if you'd just taken this trip seriously! I see that we're going to be late to my sisters wedding, that I have a booger green dress, my hair is ruined, and now we have no cake!"

Owen doesn't say anything, he just frowns, and for some reason that only makes me more agitated.

"You know, everything has progressively gotten worse this entire trip! I had one job, Owen, not to screw up! What good is being the Maid of Honor if I can't even pick up a cake and show up on time? I would've been better off taking a taxi!"

Owen rubs the back of his neck. "We can fix this. It's no biggie."

"It is a 'biggie,' Owen. It's a huge biggie! Why can't you ever take anything seriously? We're going to ruin Sofia's wedding!"

I'm a failure as a sister and Maid-of-Honour. It will be a miracle if we even get there at this point.

"We'll figure it out, it's just a cake, Audrey. It'll be alright."